Hi Guys, long time Dolfan here and first time poster. I'm really beginninig to question the "Trifectas" thinking and commitment to winning. Our biggest need is a playmaking WR as we have no threat on the wideouts. Why aren't we hard charging toward one? This just drives me insane. While the Jets and Patriots keeping making moves on improving themselves, we sign a good, but not elite LB in Karlos Dansby. The Jets got Braylon Edwards and we easily could of had him. While he does have problems with holding on to catches, he's damm better than what we have. My biggest thing is with Parcells. He's an "analog clock in a digital world". Today's NFL is about explosive, high octane offense. Not the run, run, dink and dunk offense and a good D as he usually builds his team.

I really want to see an explosive here and we just seem to miss out everytime. I'm really getting sick and tired of it.

Don't expect the situation to improve. I think our staff is in the stone age when it comes to offense. They were able to use the wildcat as a temporary fix, but that gimmick wore off some....especially when we faced a 2009 schedule of good teams versus the easy 2008 schedule that included such powerhouse teams as the Rams and Chiefs. We get behind in many games and then ask the rookie QB (essentially a rookie) to throw the ball 50+ times to a lackluster receiving corps....and then wonder why we lose games.

A great running game is very nice....but balance is needed....and we have very little in the way of explosive firepower on our offensive roster. Our best receiver was a rookie who played well, but only scored 3 TD's. I have no idea why the Dolphins pass on explosive offensive players in each and every draft.....and in each and every free agency period. I think Parcells is trying to build the '86 Giants again.....but the game has changed.

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

I'm glad to see someone else shares my pain. We're either dealing with dinosaur thinking guys like Ireland and Parcells or the owner is a complete tightwad. Go out and sign TO to a one year deal. Go out and try to grab Marshall. Sign either of them to an incentive based deal and if they act a fool, or cause problems then cut them. But at least make a move and show the fans something!!Boldin would of been a great addition...and we passed (again). I'm just truly sick and tired of the same thing year in year out. Brandon Marshall is one of the best in the game and we can have him for a good price. It's better than drafting some guy in the 3rd or 4th and hoping he turns out. That's gone well for us hasn't it? Like you said, 2008 was a fluke. If we wasted a 2nd round pick on superstar Pat White, I'd sure as hell in heartbeat send our first to Denver.

i agree about needing playmakers, but if you cant play better defense than last season we are not going to win much either. i think mr. nolan will help a ton. i am willing to see how the draft shapes up.

i agree about needing playmakers, but if you cant play better defense than last season we are not going to win much either. i think mr. nolan will help a ton. i am willing to see how the draft shapes up.

Rich wrote:

It's only March and the fickle fans are whining about how terrible the offseason has turned out...

You know what helps our defense play better, not being on the field after a 45mins of 3 and outs, or the sheer feeling that if they mess up our offense can back them up quickly and give them another chance to protect the lead and win the game. I've played my share of football and never in the NFL but there is no better feeling that you can go out there as a confident D and take chances cuz u know your O is gonna back you up. Not the feeling of man if we mess up this could be the end of the game, cuz the O is gonna run out of clock running the ball every play. Rich, as far as complaining about the offseason, I dont think anyone is they/we are all just curious as to why we dont address our need at receiver. I mean we have had this problem since Irving Fryar and OJ McDuffie most recently. Its not a new problem.

I'm sure Mike Nolan will help but the bottom line is...Offense scores points. We haven't had a playmaking reciever since when and who? Exactly! Of course fans are sick of the same crap year after year. Who wouldn't be? These are the options I believe we should take..

1. Marshall2. D. Bryant3. Spiller

After you address that, go for a quality LB and S in the draft. I just believe anything else is unacceptable. Relying on Ronnie Brown as your main offense weapon is a joke. Ronnie's a hell of a player, but can't do it alone and is injury prone. But I will BET this team will screw it up once again. Hate to be a downer, but our track record in drafting is at best, well very suspect.

I think your on point Phin954. Adding a premier weapon on O will open up for all the young guys we have right now. If Ronnie and Ricky are this effective when other teams know they are getting the ball, imagine when we put someone else on the field that they have to worry about every down.

Yep....our offense is not explosive at all. When you ask most fans, they will tell you our best player is Ronnie Brown. So far, he has completed one full season and I believe has only had a single 1,000 yard season. He is a great player, no doubt, but if he is the most explosive playmaker on your team then you are in trouble.

We were blessed with a weak schedule in 2008 and Pennington, rubber band arm and all, played perhaps his best season ever and dinked and dunked our way to the playoffs. However, it was all a mirage. Once the team had to face real competition week in and week out....and the wildcat was no longer a surprise....the team slipped back into mediocrity.

This team has not had an explosive passing game in many seasons....and the running game has been solid, but the wildcat aside...has not produced many long runs.

The teams winning consistently in the NFL have passing games that are potent and are not bereft of game breaking offensive players. When will the Dolphins start looking for that kind of player on offense?

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

I can appreciate everyone's concern for the offense but, you forget we laid some wood on the vaunted Saints and let's not forget the Colts game. I think we all know that there are glaring needs on both ends of the ball but, I think we lost more games because of our inability to stop the opponents offense then our offense.

No, I don't think we have a fear striking passing game. What we have is a very effective receiving corps who doesn't have a consistent threat at TE. If we had a solid TE that could work the seams and underneath routes we wouldn't have to have all these curls, digs, flats and bubble routes that we so much love to run.

Playmaking WR would be really nice but I just assume see what we could do with a more effective TE.

Don't expect the situation to improve. I think our staff is in the stone age when it comes to offense. They were able to use the wildcat as a temporary fix, but that gimmick wore off some....especially when we faced a 2009 schedule of good teams versus the easy 2008 schedule that included such powerhouse teams as the Rams and Chiefs. We get behind in many games and then ask the rookie QB (essentially a rookie) to throw the ball 50+ times to a lackluster receiving corps....and then wonder why we lose games.

I want to know why you think Miami lost games...because it certainly wasn't the offense. They could score, the defense couldn't stop the other team if their life depended on it.

I can appreciate everyone's concern for the offense but, you forget we laid some wood on the vaunted Saints and let's not forget the Colts game. I think we all know that there are glaring needs on both ends of the ball but, I think we lost more games because of our inability to stop the opponents offense then our offense.

No, I don't think we have a fear striking passing game. What we have is a very effective receiving corps who doesn't have a consistent threat at TE. If we had a solid TE that could work the seams and underneath routes we wouldn't have to have all these curls, digs, flats and bubble routes that we so much love to run.

Playmaking WR would be really nice but I just assume see what we could do with a more effective TE.

You know what helps our defense play better, not being on the field after a 45mins of 3 and outs, or the sheer feeling that if they mess up our offense can back them up quickly and give them another chance to protect the lead and win the game.

I can't think of a single instance in which this was the case this year.

But I can think of multiple where all we had to do was make simple stops yet couldn't.

Both Indy and NO were games we should have won, but couldn't because our defense got schlacked. Indy only had the ball for 14 minutes, and were able to put up 28 on our defense. That's terrible.

Though we only scored 22 per game, that is a heck of a lot better than allowing 24 per game. 22 should be enough to win most games. Allowing 24 should net you a sub-500 season, and it did.

_________________A good RB is nice, a good QB even better, but it's best to be able to stop someone first.

wow.. you guys should be jest fans, you'd fit in great. Our offense can score. Put all of our WRs up for trade and I bet we lose all of them. Our defense is obviously lacking, and all you guys want us to do is dig ourselves a hole by spending cash on a big name player?

FrustratedFinFan wrote:

We get behind in many games and then ask the rookie QB (essentially a rookie) to throw the ball 50+ times to a lackluster receiving corps....and then wonder why we lose games.

Read that again .. we get behind in many games, so lets go get a WR to fix it.

If we put up 24 points in the first half of a game and then lose.. you blame it on our WRs? Gimme a break. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we stick with our current crop of receivers. Could we use somebody else? Sure, but is it our biggest need? Not at all.

You know what helps our defense play better, not being on the field after a 45mins of 3 and outs, or the sheer feeling that if they mess up our offense can back them up quickly and give them another chance to protect the lead and win the game.

I can't think of a single instance in which this was the case this year.

But I can think of multiple where all we had to do was make simple stops yet couldn't.

Both Indy and NO were games we should have won, but couldn't because our defense got schlacked. Indy only had the ball for 14 minutes, and were able to put up 28 on our defense. That's terrible.

Though we only scored 22 per game, that is a heck of a lot better than allowing 24 per game. 22 should be enough to win most games. Allowing 24 should net you a sub-500 season, and it did.

That was the case in both those games. Indy was won on one play by Garcon, when will allen miss played it. The first play of the game was a killer as well, but for the most part the D played great. Reggie caught like 2 passes in the 4th. NO came down to a horrible decision for a TO before the half that just stabbed our D. U also fail to mention games like San Diego where we can't even score from the 1 yd line, can move the ball vertically after our running game got stuffed. Oh and the fact that we try all these gimmicks to hide the fact that we cant throw on a consistent basis. Like when Ricky was asked to throw that ball, I mean come on. You can't say that this season was all because of our D. They held there own alot of the time. I think we have to make moves on both sides of the ball, I agree with u. But I'm only saying its not everyday Marshall is on the blocks. Or make a move for Olsen because I think a TE mismatch might help Henne and this O even more. Once again not everyday he is available.

IMHO, Getting Marshall is a very good idea provided he's looked at from a football ability standpoint. Character is a severe issue that cannot be overlooked. Honestly, that is what will cost him from going to a contender. The guy has skills, undeniable, but I don't want baby TO on this team.

I also want to point out the fact that in 14 games Henne had 2874 yards passing with 60% completion percentage, 12 TD's, and a 75 passer rating. Again, not fear striking numbers, until you look Dan freakin Henning. Whether you like it or not Davone Bess works hard and gets open, well, in my mind he got open at least 77 times. Hartline makes plays, Camarillo is Camarillo, and Ginn Jr. is making guest appearances. Don't get me started on Turner(what a waste).

I have to say that if everyone thinks our passing game sucks I really wouldn't look no further than the one who calls the plays. Henning calls a very aggressive game in the middle but once he gets the lead he starts to play not to lose.

With a potent running attack setting up golden play action opportunities, there is no excuse for this team not to score and get chunk yardage from its passing game.....with the possible exception that we have a pretty lame receiving corps. When Pennington and his short ranged arm was on the field, the receiving corps had excuses....not so much now.

Hartline.....Hartline is your current deep threat......with 3 TD's.

Ginn is a waste. He is nice on end-arounds and in the return game...that is all.

Bess is a pass catching machine, with no ability to make yardage after the catch or break any tackles. Many passes to him might as well have been run plays for all the yards they cover.

Camarillo is another pass catching machine with virtually no big play abilities.

Turner is destined for the practice squad or to be cut.

Neither or our tight ends are any special shakes either.

Our defense is not too good either. The problem is, if you spend like 3 whole drafts on the defense....your defense will improve, but your offense will stink. Balance.....balance.....balance....

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

With a potent running attack setting up golden play action opportunities, there is no excuse for this team not to score and get chunk yardage from its passing game.....with the possible exception that we have a pretty lame receiving corps. When Pennington and his short ranged arm was on the field, the receiving corps had excuses....not so much now.

Hartline.....Hartline is your current deep threat......with 3 TD's.

Ginn is a waste. He is nice on end-arounds and in the return game...that is all.

Bess is a pass catching machine, with no ability to make yardage after the catch or break any tackles. Many passes to him might as well have been run plays for all the yards they cover.

Camarillo is another pass catching machine with virtually no big play abilities.

Turner is destined for the practice squad or to be cut.

Neither or our tight ends are any special shakes either.

Our defense is not too good either. The problem is, if you spend like 3 whole drafts on the defense....your defense will improve, but your offense will stink. Balance.....balance.....balance....

You sure are a miserable person.

Again, make all of our active receivers available for trade and our phones would be ringing all day.

What do you honestly believe teams would give for our receivers? I can see none of them garnering more than a 4th or 5th round pick in trade....and that is being generous. Hartline is the best receiver on the team.....a rookie 4th round pick.

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

With a potent running attack setting up golden play action opportunities, there is no excuse for this team not to score and get chunk yardage from its passing game.....with the possible exception that we have a pretty lame receiving corps. When Pennington and his short ranged arm was on the field, the receiving corps had excuses....not so much now.

Hartline.....Hartline is your current deep threat......with 3 TD's.

Ginn is a waste. He is nice on end-arounds and in the return game...that is all.

Bess is a pass catching machine, with no ability to make yardage after the catch or break any tackles. Many passes to him might as well have been run plays for all the yards they cover.

Camarillo is another pass catching machine with virtually no big play abilities.

Turner is destined for the practice squad or to be cut.

Neither or our tight ends are any special shakes either.

Our defense is not too good either. The problem is, if you spend like 3 whole drafts on the defense....your defense will improve, but your offense will stink. Balance.....balance.....balance....

I agree with everything you said. It is all about balance. Miami has tried to help the offense by using some high round picks on offense, but they haven't had the impact hoped for. Ginn, Pat White, Turner, those are high picks that have under achieved.

Our receivers are decent. Not fantastic. A legit #1 WR that can run deep routes and catch the ball would help Camarillo and Bess be even better. Once defenses have to respect the long ball it would open up Miami's offensive capabilities. Defenses do not respect Miami's ability to throw deep. The safeties cheat up to stuff the run and jam Bess, Camarillo. Ginn drops a lot of catches, avoids contact and isn't aggressive in going to get the ball. If Miami had a legit #1 WR who could draw the attention of safeties and require double teams it would open up mid range and short opportunities for the other WR's, TE's and RB's. Miami lacks balance in the passing game. There is no legit threat of the long ball right now.

No one said ignore defense either.....the Dolphins have, in fact, overplayed their hand to get defensive players for a couple years now. We spent two picks last year for CB, spent huge money on Gibril Wilson (worked out nicely ), Dansby, brought in Porter for big dough, drafted Langford and Merling etc.......and the defense still is porous, but I think it will be better with some seasoning for the CB's, a healthy Ferguson, and the signing of Dansby. The cupboard is bare at WR though. How about some balance?

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

No one said ignore defense either.....the Dolphins have, in fact, overplayed their hand to get defensive players for a couple years now. We spent two picks last year for CB, spent huge money on Gibril Wilson (worked out nicely ), Dansby, brought in Porter for big dough, drafted Langford and Merling etc.......and the defense still is porous, but I think it will be better with some seasoning for the CB's, a healthy Ferguson, and the signing of Dansby. The cupboard is bare at WR though. How about some balance?

This regime did not bring in Porter.

This team spent big money to get Grove, Smiley, drafted Jake Long number 1 overall, bring back Ricky, Pennington, traded for Fasano, used a first day pick on a QB and another on another "QB".

We've spent more money and more high-mid draft picks on Offense than Defense, so far Frusterated. Right now we are 1 player away....a big time WR.

We are far away defensively, though, from being anywhere near where we need to be...for the now, or the future.

No one said ignore defense either.....the Dolphins have, in fact, overplayed their hand to get defensive players for a couple years now. We spent two picks last year for CB, spent huge money on Gibril Wilson (worked out nicely ), Dansby, brought in Porter for big dough, drafted Langford and Merling etc.......and the defense still is porous, but I think it will be better with some seasoning for the CB's, a healthy Ferguson, and the signing of Dansby. The cupboard is bare at WR though. How about some balance?

This regime did not bring in Porter.

This team spent big money to get Grove, Smiley, drafted Jake Long number 1 overall, bring back Ricky, Pennington, traded for Fasano, used a first day pick on a QB and another on another "QB".

We've spent more money and more high-mid draft picks on Offense than Defense, so far Frusterated. Right now we are 1 player away....a big time WR.

We are far away defensively, though, from being anywhere near where we need to be...for the now, or the future.

Yeah but those aren't the sexy moves that he wants.

What good would a great WR be without an O line or Qb or solid running game? Ask Detroit how their #1 WR worked out for them.

We ranked 20th.....that stinks. We had only 29 pass plays of 20+ yards and 4 plays of 40+ yards. The top 11 teams had more than double the number of 20+ yard pass plays and often 4 times as many 40+ yard plays. We need an explosive wide receiver and/or tight end.

Our vaunted rushing offense was 4th in the league....but there is an interesting stat to look at there. We had only 9 runs of 20+ yards and only 3 of 40+ yards. A large number of teams (like about 10) had almost twice as many runs of 20+ yards. This points to a lack of break away speed at running back as well.

In fact, we ranked 17th in total yards.....showing you how much that crappy passing game hurts.

You would think that a team that is 4th in the league in rushing would be able to exploit play action for big chunks in the passing game. When we had Pennington, we had an excuse. Now with Henne, the noodle arm excuse is gone.

This team needs play makers on offense.

Don't get me wrong. The defense stinks as well. 18th against the run and 24th against the pass. However, we have put plenty of money and high picks into our defense and it is getting worse...not better. Maybe the current regime aren't the super geniuses we seem to give them credit for.

Balance.....balance....balance.......use a 1st, or at least 2nd round pick this year for a skill position on offense. Preferably WR, but if you plan on running all day....how about someone who can make some big plays. Ronnie Brown is steady....when not hurt......but he has never been a game breaker.

Oh....and be careful when you compare us to Detroit. Not a fair comparison at all. That team is far worse than ours....although, as of late, we seem to be headed in their direction. Calvin Johnson is a great player. Put a WR like that on our team and the offense will probably go from 17th to top 10, perhaps higher.

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

The team scored points...that's all that matters when it comes to final score. The defense was 24th in scoring defense....How in the world are you going to win games when you can't keep teams from scoring? Get the prettiest and sexiest receivers and you're not going to win if the other will just beat you if they have the ball last.

No one said ignore defense either.....the Dolphins have, in fact, overplayed their hand to get defensive players for a couple years now. We spent two picks last year for CB, spent huge money on Gibril Wilson (worked out nicely ), Dansby, brought in Porter for big dough, drafted Langford and Merling etc.......and the defense still is porous, but I think it will be better with some seasoning for the CB's, a healthy Ferguson, and the signing of Dansby. The cupboard is bare at WR though. How about some balance?

This regime did not bring in Porter.

It is not even worth having a discussion with an individual who cannot get such a well known fact straight....

We could have won quite a few games by scoring just a few more darn points. Not settling for so many field goals and not playing from behind in most games. We only lost 5 games by 10 pts or more (2 of these by exactly 10 pts).....and we lost the remaining 4 games by 7,6, 4 and 3 pts. Given a decent passing game, one would think we might have pulled out at least 3 of those games....if not more.

10-6 might get you a playoff berth....and we played a very tough schedule last year.

Oh.....and the Saints and Colts were the 25th and 18th in the NFL respectively in total yardage defense......funny, weren't those teams in the Super Bowl? How did they do that with such poor defenses? The Saints' defense even ranked below ours....

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

We could have won quite a few games by scoring just a few more darn points. Not settling for so many field goals and not playing from behind in most games. We only lost 5 games by 10 pts or more (2 of these by exactly 10 pts).....and we lost the remaining 4 games by 7,6, 4 and 3 pts. Given a decent passing game, one would think we might have pulled out at least 3 of those games....if not more.

10-6 might get you a playoff berth....and we played a very tough schedule last year.

Oh.....and the Saints and Colts were the 25th and 18th in the NFL respectively in total yardage defense......funny, weren't those teams in the Super Bowl? How did they do that with such poor defenses? The Saints' defense even ranked below ours....

We COLLAPSED in the 4th Quarter time after time after time.....We allowed the MOST 4th Quarter points in the NFL by far....A number 1 WR is at fault for that I guess...

What about scoring 36 against the Saints and losing? #1 WR. What about having the ball for 45+ minutes against Indy and still losing?What about letting the last 3 teams on the schedule score 24+ points in the first half alone.

All those the fault of not having a #1 WR?

This is a young offense on the rise, and a Defense getting older and tired at critical positions. Don't even try and tell me that our offense is this inept piece of crap while our D is good enough. It's not.

You want to have another 7-9 season? Fine. Continue to ignore the need of a pass rush and of our run D, and draft skill position players who will increase our PPG by 1 or 2.

And BTW the Saints and Colts Defenses were 20th and 8th, while ours was 25th in the actual stat that matters...scoring. And the Saints won the Super Bowl because of their D.

This round goes to Phinsrock. Frustrated, I get your desire for a scary WR option, but ask yourself this:

Who was the scary WR option when Tom Brady actually WON suprebowls?

Hmmm?

Troy Brown. They did have a scary D those years though, good coaching and an adequate offense with a really good QB. Kinda fits the Parcells mold, no? I'm just saying, be patient and watch what unfolds. It's early, lots can happen. I'm more scared of our NT & FS situations than our WRs.

Brandon Marshall is not what our team lacks. The Dolphins need a few pieces, not one WR.

I have faith that this leadership group has a plan and that we are moving forward with it. Last year was painful, in many respects, but we were never SB contenders last year anyway. When you lose your starting QB and then your startin RB, there is rarely a good ending.

Dansby is solid. I'm excited to have him on the defensive side. I think there are other holes to fix in the D as well.

I am looking forward to the draft. I think we can address FS and NT in the draft and if a home run hitting offensive player falls to us, that would be awesome.

Not ready to be negative. More hopeful than anything.

Also, I am a Reds fan. I have never been more excited about one of the teams I cheer for than the day the Reds traded for Griffey, Jr. He was going to rebuild the Big Red Machine by himself. Griffey did not have a great second half of his career and that great move has almost haunted the Reds from that day forward. One man, one move rarely, if ever, makes a team.

_________________As a kid I would wear swimming goggles under my Dolphins helmet in order to look like Bob Griese.

Well....it is looking like Marshall will go to the Jets anyway. That will be nice.....way to remind you twice a year whether or not you made the right decision. Let's see.....Braylon Edwards and Marshall versus two second year corners.....and probably a rookie FS.....yeah, sounds real good.

_________________Philbin's countenance exudes confidence!1984 was so long ago...Will there ever be another rainbow?

Yeah, and the Colts were second in the league in passing and the Saints were fourth, and they also have some pretty good receivers (Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Dallas Clark, and Marquis Colston, Devery Henderson, and Robert Meachem) so having some good receivers helps. That being said, still would be nice to upgrade our inexperienced and lackluster of a secondary as a first priority. Can't win many games when you allow a league worse 8.2 yards per pass attempt.

Well....it is looking like Marshall will go to the Jets anyway. That will be nice.....way to remind you twice a year whether or not you made the right decision. Let's see.....Braylon Edwards and Marshall versus two second year corners.....and probably a rookie FS.....yeah, sounds real good.

Doubt it. So far the rumour has 'no legs' according to Judy Battista from NY Times. In regards to Marshall.